Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The government of Brazil has provided 7,000 metric tones of rice worth about US$ 3.3 million through World Food Program (WFP) for the people living in most disaster-prone areas of Bangladesh.
This vital donation, which is set to arrive at Chittagong Port on May 9 this year, will enable assistance to 80,000 highly vulnerable Bangladeshis and their families by involving them in food-for-work schemes designed to make their communities more resilient, said a WPF announcement said on Thursday.
“WFP is very grateful for this generous donation from the people of Brazil,” WFP Representative in Bangladesh Christa Räder said, adding that this donation provides us with the opportunity to support the most vulnerable in Bangladesh in overcoming the combined challenges of food insecurity, under-nutrition and the impact of natural disasters and climate change.
Brazilian Ambassador to Bangladesh Ricardo L Viana de Carvalho said Brazil has a long-standing and fruitful partnership with WFP in a variety of issues related to improving food security.
“Since 2011, we have been carrying out in-kind donations, with the support of WFP, to a group of over 40 countries which are vulnerable to food insecurity,” he said.
In partnership with the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the WFP will use the contribution to provide employment to ultra poor people, 70 percent of whom are women, on key infrastructure projects in coastal and flood-prone areas through its Enhancing Resilience to Disasters and the Effects of Climate Change (ER) program.
The ER programaims to reduce the exposure of food-insecure households to disasters and the impact of climate change through the development of community infrastructure.
BBN/SSR/AD-19Apr12-3:48 pm (BST)
